Watching that clip, I can't help but wonder once again where the rest of SHIELD went. Isn't chasing down new superpowered threats something that you'd want the entire organization in on-- or at least more than the five people we see here?

Is everyone else just waiting on standby until the next alien invasion or something? Somehow it just seems like an awfully small team for the mission they're undertaking.

Click to expand...

On the other hand, past history with superhumans has shown that they don't always respond well to the hard sell, or to a military organization charging in to surround them. That could get people hurt. Maybe the idea is that a softer sell, approaching them with a smaller team, would be less threatening, less likely to provoke conflict.

The flying car thing at the end felt kinda silly. Like, "Eureka" silly. But then again, this is the universe in which Norse gods are real, so it's not really an issue.

Click to expand...

Plus, as I've probably already pointed out, the flying sports car has been a staple of SHIELD comics for nearly fifty years now. At this point, it's like complaining that the Silver Surfer's cosmic surfboard is kinda silly. Or that Bruce Banner turns into a giant green monster.

The flying car thing at the end felt kinda silly. Like, "Eureka" silly. But then again, this is the universe in which Norse gods are real, so it's not really an issue.

Click to expand...

Plus, as I've probably already pointed out, the flying sports car has been a staple of SHIELD comics for nearly fifty years now. At this point, it's like complaining that the Silver Surfer's cosmic surfboard is kinda silly. Or that Bruce Banner turns into a giant green monster.

It comes with the comic-book universe.

Click to expand...

Exactly, the car is a well-known part of shield. I was happy that they kept it.

Regarding the concerns about this being the only team dealing with threats, I did not get that impression. I thought that this was basically a group taking a smaller scale approach than the rest of SHEILD, flying under the radar so to speak. That is why they are using "old" tech rather than the carrier and keeping a low profile. This was also the reason Coulson wanted to recruit Skye.

From a production perspective, this allows for in-universe stories that don't rely on heavy special effects.

Yeah, I got the impression that they would be dealing with the smaller scale issues that don't necessarily require the whole agency. You know like the one guy with superpowers we got here, or the one piece of tech we got last week.
Basically I think they'll be the ones dealing with the smaller problems while we see all of the big issues in the movies.

Also a way to introduce smaller, more 'street level' characters too. I mean honestly I totally think Cloak and Dagger or Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing could easily show up in an episode as "Heroes for Hire" and it would work far better on TV than it would on the big screen.

Historically internal bookkeeping means that even Marvel has to pay Marvel to use Marvel characters.

Logically all the characters they are allowed to use gratis, everything/one directly associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as their wish-list, which would have been arranged months ago when the lawyers were making out, that will be fixed until it's time to renegotiate after probably season 3 or 5.

Plus, as I've probably already pointed out, the flying sports car has been a staple of SHIELD comics for nearly fifty years now. At this point, it's like complaining that the Silver Surfer's cosmic surfboard is kinda silly. Or that Bruce Banner turns into a giant green monster.

It comes with the comic-book universe.

Click to expand...

The reason that TV and movie adaptations of superheroes and such pretty much always fail on a creative level (if not the financial level), is that the producers seem embarrassed by the source material and go mainstream. This stuff is supposed to be pure imagination, it's supposed to be about the creativity and the artistry, it's supposed to be off the wall and over the top; watering it down to the level where mundanes are comfortable with it just takes the magic out of it.

Seriously, is Back to the Future people's only referent for flying cars? What about The Jetsons, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Supercar, Blade Runner, etc.?

Click to expand...

It was more the staging of the scene, what with Coulson putting on the shades and everything ala Doc Brown. Hell, they should have gone ahead and used the line from BTTF. He could have followed it by dove tailing his comment of "sorry, I couldn't resist" from the beginning of the episode. It would have seemed less "cheesy" I think.